Unemployment rate in Janesville, other metro areas, increases

MADISON—The unemployment rate in the Janesville metro area increased in January, the Department of Workforce Development reported Wednesday.

Statewide, unemployment rates jumped in all 12 metro areas.

The department said the January rate for Rock County—also known as the Janesville Metropolitan Statistical Area—was 7.9 percent, higher than 6.9 percent reported in December but below the 9.3 percent tallied in January 2014.

Overall, the state unemployment rate in January was 6.7 percent, up from the rate posted in December and down from the 7.9 percent posted in January 2013, the department reported.

Of the 32 Wisconsin cities with at least 25,000 people, unemployment rates increased in all.

Analysts said the increases are not surprising, given the cold and stormy month that came on the heals of the Christmas hiring season.

Among counties, Rock County had the 27th-highest rate, while Dane County had the lowest at 4.3 percent.

Walworth County had a January unemployment rate of 7.2 percent, while Green and Jefferson counties had rates of 6.2 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively. December-January rates increased in all 72 Wisconsin counties.

Among individual cities, Janesville's rate of 8.2 percent in January was the eighth highest in the state.

With a January unemployment rate of 10.5 percent, Beloit had the second-highest rate among Wisconsin cities. It trailed only Racine and its January unemployment rate of 11.2 percent.